


An Opening Entreaty

by Elywyngirlie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Curses, F/M, Ficlet, Fighting, HEX - Freeform, Time Travel, Tom Riddle is His Own Warning, War in Hogwarts Hallways, jinxes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24168298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elywyngirlie/pseuds/Elywyngirlie
Summary: Her only defense ended up a neat little trap.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Tom Riddle
Comments: 6
Kudos: 80





	An Opening Entreaty

The curses were flying fast and her shield was cracking under the onslaught. 

“Mudblood slag!” Rosier screeched as a bright red streak hurled toward her. Hermione dodged and flung back a fairly nasty hex. His face grew red as the air became trapped in his throat. She backed up against the wall, chest heaving, as she eyed the other three Slytherins. 

“Four against one is hardly fair,” she scorned, hoping for momentary relief. Malfoy’s wand was whirling around Rosier in an attempt to help. Lestrange and Avery snarled at her and she bared her teeth in return. 

“You don’t belong here!” 

“Do you plan on personally eliminating every muggle born or just me?” 

Avery sneered. “You’re just the beginning.” And the fury began anew. Hermione’s anger rose as her curses slanted darker. She wasn’t going to let these pimply idiotic adolescent sheep take her down. She hadn’t survived a war only to be hurled back in time and murdered near the Potions classroom. 

She threw a knock back jinx at Avery and snapped a sticking curse at him. He bawled as he couldn’t lift his limbs from the walls. She jumped back at Malfoy’s hex before flinging a quick jelly legged jinx. As he dodged it, she followed with a strong expulso that sent him rolling down the hall, his head slapping the stone wall loudly. 

Lestrange’s curse slammed into her and blood squirted out of her arm. Swearing, she threw up a shield and gave a quick episkey to slow down the flow. Luckily it wasn’t her wand arm as her left arm resisted movement. He must have torn some muscles. Her chest ached from Rosier’s hex, lungs constricting. 

“Petrificus totalus!” she shouted at Rosier. He fell back and she sneered as she tossed a hair loss curse before adding a tongue tying curse at him. She was unsure about his wandless skills and it was better to be safe. Never could be too careful. The war had taught her that. 

It was just her and Lestrange now and joy flooded through her at finally having a piece of her revenge. Her scar burned on her arm as they traded spells, Lestrange’s face scrunched up in concentration. Sweat trickled down her back and she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She rocketed to the side just as Lestrange’s Diffindo sliced toward her, ripping across her shoulder. 

Hermione screamed, pain tearing through her, blood running down her wand arm. 

Without thinking, she hurled “Sectumsempra!” Lestrange was too slow and the curse clipped his throat. His mouth gaped. Blood poured from him, his shirt crimson, and he toppled to the floor. 

Dead. He was dead. 

Hermione gasped and fell against the wall, reeling. _Oh Merlin, I’ve ruined it! I’ve ruined the timeline!_ Panic coursed through her, nearly eclipsing the pain throbbing in her shoulder. 

A slow clapping broke her reverie. She turned her head. Tom Riddle aimed his clap at her, dark eyes bright with some unfathomable joy. 

“What a lovely little mess I found here,” he drawled, the rough edges of his accent nearly smoothed away. Hermione trembled and wondered just how long she could take a cruciatus. Riddle waved his wand and she braced herself, wand lifting when the hot pain tore through her. With a yelp, she crashed to the ground. Heat ripped through every vein, every artery, copper filling her mouth. 

After a moment it was gone and a slow dreamy feeling rolled through her. She blinked and could feel Riddle’s eyes on her. Carefully, she lifted a fully healed arm and pointed her wand at him.

“What was that?” she demanded as he cast a Muffliato. 

“A gift,” he said patiently, as if she were too slow to grasp the concept. “An opening entreaty, if you will.” 

“For what?” She eyed him as he toed Lestrange’s unmoving form. Rosier was shouting what she assumed were obscenities although it was unclear from the lingering effects of her curse. Avery was demanding his lord take care of the mudblood, his face pale with frenzy. Riddle waved his hand and both boys fell silent. Their lips still moved until they realized their savior had silenced them. Not her. Not the magic thief. He didn’t silence the pitiful creature who dared to traipse through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. 

Avery’s face burned with fury. 

Riddle squatted near her and Hermione scuttled away, back colliding with the wall. Her hand shook. A gracefully cold smile slithered across his face and she licked her lips, wondering just how the hell she’d survive him. 

“Quite the mess, Miss Granger. Just how are we going to explain Lestrange here?” 

She gritted her teeth: “What do you want, Riddle?” She watched him survey the mess in the hallway, almost grateful that it was late in the evening, near curfew and that no one had seen the fight. Or saw Lestrange’s fish belly white face. She closed her eyes and ordered herself to breathe. She’d figure it out. She always would. 

When she opened them, she inhaled sharply. Riddle was studying her, his features glacial except for a smirk tucked away in the corner of his mouth. He lifted his hand and she cringed as a curse hovered on the tip of her tongue. But his smirk only widened to reveal sharp teeth. With an elegant flourish of his wand, he banished the blood off the floor. She froze. 

“I can make this all go away, Hermione. I can make this disappear.” He leaned closer, searing wolfish breath skittering across her cheek. “I can help you. All you have to do is ask.” 

He sat back on his heels, expectant. 

He already knew how she would answer.


End file.
